


The Proposal

by Aurrus



Category: The Avengers (2012)
Genre: "The Proposal" retelling, Arranged Marriage, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-08-07
Updated: 2013-08-07
Packaged: 2017-12-22 17:07:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,807
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/915825
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aurrus/pseuds/Aurrus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After serving his punishment in Midgard in order to redeem himself, Loki is about to be sent back to Asgard to face the rest of his sentence, and he is determined to stay; even if it means he has to get married and to make it seem legit merely in a week.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Proposal

**Author's Note:**

> Technically this story is inspired by The Proposal (2009), but it's not a word-by-word retelling; I started it as a prompt on tumblr, but as I plan to continue, and soon, I thought it would be a good idea to bring it here as well :)

In hindsight, Loki probably should’ve realized earlier that nothing would work out for him. But the only punishment he got for his crimes against Midgard was being sent back to help with restoration of the ruined city, to which he agreed gladly – despite the common belief, he deeply regretted his actions (and if ninety percent of this regret was actually concerning his disappointment at being so foolishly tricked, well, nobody needed to know that).

And he was tricked, indeed; he was traumatized when he ran into Thanos, and the Mad Titan played him with his own weapon – turned his silver tongue against him, making Loki believe in his very own lies. Making him believe that he wanted the power, wanted the throne, wanted to humiliate Thor like Thor (albeit unknowingly) humiliated him. It was a lie; he only wanted to be an equal, to be worthy – to be Thor’s brother again. He was loath to admit as much, though; and so silver tongue turned to lead.

He led the army he has never wanted to take over the planet he never meant to have, and then it all went straight to hell; he has lost, and he was actually rather relieved, too – he had no idea what he was going to do with Midgard, after all, not to mention he wasn’t that stupid to think other forces – far beyond mortals and even beyond Thanos – would let him have it. The Avengers helped him without realizing it; and once he was free to act on his own when the Chitauri were taken down, he stopped fighting, allowing Thor to put him in chains and deliver him back to Asgard.

Loki had to admit, he had a very sinking feeling back then – a crime was a crime, his regret could’ve only helped him that much, and his hopes were far from high.

But he still hoped, and for once, they seemed to come true. He couldn’t believe his luck; to redeem his sins all he had to do was to help Midgard, and then – and then he was free! Of course, it didn’t mean much; he wasn’t in good favors at home anymore, not for the next couple of centuries at least, and while it was a painful admission, it was better than being executed or being thrown into the dungeon only to be forgotten for an unknown period of time, slowly going mad. It didn’t take him long to come up with a decision.

He was staying in Midgard.

And that was it; a year, even less, of hard work, of constant conflicts with the Avengers and SHIELD, of making his ways into the others good favors… and finally he was free to live his own life once again. For the duration of his punishment he was staying in the Avengers mansion – ‘for everybody’s sake’, as he was told, so that he was under someone’s eye all the time. Truth to be told, Loki couldn’t care less. Sure enough, he still loved causing mischief whenever he could, but he was on his way proving he was a better person now, so let them watch if they felt the need to do so, especially considering that in the end it gained him enough trust to try and move out now.

All in all, life was good. New York was whole again, Loki was mostly free and nobody was after him. Everything was working just fine.

Until Thor (why wasn’t he surprised?) came with the most unwelcomed news he could ever  imagine.

“Are you ready to come home, brother?” he asked in what was probably a soft variation of his booming voice. Loki stilled where he was searching for a flat on a spare notebook in the living room and slowly turned to look at his brother.

“…What do you mean?”

“Your servitude here is over,” Thor frowned, completely ignoring the way Loki cringed at his choice of words. “You are now to return back to serve the rest of your punishment.”

Loki’s eyes opened wide, and he slowly put the computer aside, turning to Thor fully.

“What punishment?” he wondered lightly, a sinking feeling in his stomach. It couldn’t be; he was sure it couldn’t be. “I have already paid all my debts, Thor, what are you talking about?”

“But that was your sentence; either a long-term imprisonment, or helping people here and having your time in captivity shortened considerably. Don’t you remember?”

No, he didn’t remember. Loki felt something akin to panic raise in his chest. How could he forget something so crucial?

“I can’t leave, Thor,” he whispered. “I don’t want to rot in some cell in the dungeons; I’m – I  may not be innocent, but I have served my punishment, why should I do it again?”

Thor sighed and came closer to sit down with him.

“It won’t be long, brother; fifty years utmost.”

Fifty years! Fifty years alone, fifty years, knowing Odin, in complete silence, fifty years of breaking down piece to piece for the things he didn’t even want to do in the first place –

“I can’t,” he gasped. “I can’t go back, Thor!”

“Why?” Thor’s frown went deeper; clearly he couldn’t understand. No surprise; nobody could. Loki laughed bitterly.

“Because –”

“You know as well as I do that you have to go back, unless something is holding you here,” Thor pressed. “But I can’t see what, and it means…”

Holding him here. What could probably make the Allfather step back, what did he have to do to stay here? Even mortals were better than exclusion. What was sacred enough for gods to leave him be?..

His eyes were scanning the room absently until they fell on the forgotten computer. There, on the site, was a banner – an ad, if he remembered correctly – with two golden rings and a blinking title  of ‘50%’.

Rings.

“What about marriage?” he quickly asked, not listening to Thor’s speech. Thor swallowed his words and looked at him quizzically, confused.

“I –I didn’t think about it yet,” he muttered, rubbing the back of his neck. “I’m not sure I’m willing to marry yet, neither have I spoken to lady Jane, and I’m afraid father wouldn’t approve of her… Why?”

For a moment Loki just stared at him blankly.

“You’re a moron,” he finally sneered. “And I wasn’t speaking about _you_ , you oaf. I meant _my_ marriage. Would it work? If I were married to a midgardian?”

Thor blinked at him slowly.

“Oh,” he finally managed, and Loki fought the urge to roll his eyes. He could see struggle on his brother’s face, the desperate desire to say something stupid like ‘Don’t tell Jane’. Luckily for him, he didn’t. “I don’t… I’m not really sure, but I believe it could work,” he offered at last, frowning a little more. “But why? You’re not married, nor do you court anyone, so it doesn’t really…”

“It does,” Loki snapped, standing from where he was seated and pacing around the room. “If I find somebody – it’s sacred, is it not? Not even Odin would separate two bounded souls.”

“No, he would not,” Thor agreed, humming softly and rubbing his chin. “But you do realize that for it to work, you’d have to find a soulmate, no less? A person who would understand you like nobody else does, who would know everything about you, who would follow you wherever you go and never let you go – and you, in turn, would do the same for your mate.”

“Yes, I know,” Loki waved his hand dismissively, wrinkling his nose. Sometimes Thor was too naïve; they have spent roughly the same time in Midgard, but Thor still didn’t get some things. Basically all Loki needed was just a person willing to help him out; everything else could be settled, they would share all the facts they needed to know about each other and then comes yet another benefit of this mortal world – a divorce. A few years to completely fall of Heimdall’s radar, and he wouldn’t even have to keep up an appearance.

There was just a little left in his perfect spontaneous plan – to find such a person.

“How long do I have?” he asked, licking his lips, suddenly dry.

Thor shrugged sheepishly.

“A week,” he mutters sympathetically, rubbing his neck and not lifting his eyes. “I would  have told you sooner, but I supposed you knew…”

“A _week?!”_ Loki cried, turning sharply to pin Thor with an angry glare. How was he supposed to find a fitting candidate for his con in a week? If the question had concerned the marriage only, it wouldn’t have been a problem, but he needed somebody smart enough to understand the seriousness of his situation, quick on the draw to remember a whole lot of facts about Loki and most important – it had to be somebody who the Allfather could believe Loki to fall in love with.

Loki stooped a little. He was, as people here would say, screwed.

“Hey guys,” a cheerful voice came from behind him not a second later, followed close by with a sound of beer can opening. “What’s up? Is it a family bonding or others could join?”

Smart, quick on the draw, dissolute enough to agree to trick the Allfather himself and just within an arm’s reach.

One detail, though – dissolute enough he may be, but the said person hated him for all he was worth.

Still, Loki had a week. A week to persuade somebody to help him was not the same as the week to find somebody who could be persuaded.

“Anthony, dear,” he all but purred, turning slowly. Stark froze in the mid-step, eyeing him suspiciously and raising one eyebrow. “I can’t even begin to express my happiness to see you today. Could we talk, please? I need to tell you something, darling,” he cooed, walking to a slightly panicked and confused Tony and wounding his arms around his bicep. “Play along, Stark, _please._ I need to talk to you in private, you can get whatever you want if you help me,” he hissed in his ear when he was sure Thor couldn’t hear him.

Tony gulped and darted a quick glance at Thor. Then he looked back at Loki and narrowed his eyes.

“Anything, you say?” he murmured, turning his head a little to whisper suggestively in Loki’s ear.

“Yes,” Loki nodded tensely.

There was a tortuously long moment of hesitation and anticipation, and then Tony hummed, smiling brightly, and wrapped an arm loosely around Loki’s hips.

“Sure,” he beamed at him and then winked at Thor, who was silently gaping at them. “We’ll be right back, buddy.”

Loki let out a sigh of relief when they walked out.

So it could work.

He’d make sure it _would_ work, whatever it would take him to make it so.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Uh, as one can guess, it's unbeta'ed; I hope there's not too many mistakes, but in case there is, I'm sorry! And if somebody would be willing to help, I'd be forever grateful =)


End file.
